A foldable that fits the pocket well and offers a flagship value.
Samsung has been the most consistent manufacturer in delivering foldable from the past three years as we saw with both the Galaxy Fold and the Flip series. The foldable is the next big thing in the industry as we saw with many foldable in the market now. This year Samsung came with the third generation of the Fold as well as the Flip namely the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 (Review) and the Galaxy Z Flip 3.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 has been quite a big success this year with some of its unique features which are not found on any foldable in the market yet like an IPX8 rating, a 120Hz AMOLED display on both displays, and some more. Samsung is trying to make the Flip smartphone more into the mainstream rather than a flagship with all the flagship specifications.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 also brings some very good upgrades over the Galaxy Z Flip 2 such as IPX8 rating, 120Hz AMOLED display, and a slightly larger cover display that provides more controls. Since the original Galaxy Z Flip had attracted most of the consumers in the market with its form factor, so can the new Galaxy Z Flip 3 catch attention as it provides all other flagship specifications now at a cheaper price compared to the Galaxy Z Flip?
Is it worth buying? Let’s find out in the full review.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Design:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 follows the same flip design as its predecessor where you can fold the smartphone vertically which will be in the form of a clamshell that can easily fit the pockets of jeans or pants. The folding of the display takes place around a strong hinge which is made up of a material that Samsung likes to call Armor Aluminium that is very strong and durable.
Like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the display does not fold fully and there was some gap left in between. The outside has now a larger display that shows all the notifications and you can interact with some applications here also. Alongside the display, there are dual cameras which consist of the main and the ultrawide camera,, and below them sits the LED flashlight.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 comes in seven different colors – Phantom Black, Lavender, Cream, Green, White, Pink, and Grey. The outer display glass is on the top third which is black in color and the rest of the color is what you get when you choose different color options. This color design is more appealing compared to the previous Flip generations as it gives a unique look.
Around the sides, you get a slightly different color on the aluminum frame that houses the power button that acts as a fingerprint scanner also and volume buttons are on the right side. The left side has the dual SIM card slot only and on the top, there is a secondary noise-canceling microphone. The bottom gets a USB Type-C port, a loudspeaker grill, and a primary microphone.
The inside display of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is now protected by a new protective film which is much more durable is around 80 percent more and can withstand around 200000 folds. Now the front, as well as the back, are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus which makes it very strong and you also get one of the most noticeable features i.e. support for an IPX8 rating.
An IPX8 rating means you can submerge the Galaxy Z Flip 3 under fresh water for 30 minutes up to 1.5 meters. There is no sort of dust resistance present as we get with the Galaxy S21 series. The weight is around 183grams which is slightly on the heavier side. Overall, the build and design feel great on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 thus bringing some very nice upgrades over the previous Flip that we have in the market.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Display:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 sports a larger 6.7-inches Dynamic AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1080×2640 pixels and since this display is AMOLED, you get great viewing angles and color reproduction. Now this display supports a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling or during multitasking. Just like the Galaxy S21 Ultra (Review), this is also an LTPO panel that can switch between different refresh rates.
For example, while watching a video, the refresh rate switches to 60Hz or 90Hz, and when you are playing games or rendering videos, the refresh rate switches to 120Hz making things work smoothly, and this aids in balanced battery life. Combined with the 120Hz refresh rate, you have a 240Hz touch sampling rate for faster touch responses. You can switch to Standard if you want the best battery life.
The outer display is also AMOLED which has a screen size of 1.9-inches which is slightly larger than 1.1-inches on the previous Galaxy Z Flip. This has a screen resolution of 260×512 pixels. This display allows you to check messages, call notifications, control music as well as the camera like a viewfinder when folded.
In terms of brightness, you get a peak brightness of 935nits which is pretty bright and the visibility of the display under sunlight is also good. Still, the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 have better brightness levels as they can go above 1000nits of brightness and like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, you do not have the Eco2LED display here.
The display has two different color modes -Vivid and Gentle where when using the Vivid mode, you have a temperature slider and a punchier color tone on the display whereas the Gentle Mode has a more natural tone that covers the sRGB content whereas the other one covers the DCI-P3 gamut. There is support for HDR10+ and Widevine L1, so streaming HDR content from OTT platforms is a breeze.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Performance:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 has the powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset which is also found on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. All tasks are handled with ease and performance feels great whether it is multitasking between applications, playing games like COD Mobile, BGMI where all these games run at the highest graphics settings without any frame drops or any lags.
Though if you use the smartphone heavily, the back does feel slightly warmer due to the heating issues we had with the Snapdragon 888 chipset in the past. In CPU throttling tests, the sustained performance is good but there are a lot of ups and downs present. Still, this chipset is better than the Exynos 2100 used on the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
In terms of 5G connectivity, you get around 12-13 bands of 5G so the smartphone is future-proof. There are two variants available on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 – 8GB LPDDR5 RAM with 128GB and 256GB storage which are of UFS 3.1 speeds. Overall, the performance feels much better as the Snapdragon 888 handles everything easily except for some heating issues.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Software:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 runs on the latest OneUI 3.1.1 based on Android 11. There are a lot of customizations present whether it is the icon shape and size, new styles for Always-On display, and much more. Under Samsung Labs, you get a multi-window to open multiple applications, and also the Flex Mode gets enabled when the smartphone is folded halfway.
This Flex Mode works for various applications like a camera wherein the camera image and video comes out on top as a viewfinder and the controls lie at the bottom folded one. Similarly goes for music, Youtube, Google Duo during video calls, etc. All Samsung features like DeX, Samsung Pay, Knox Security, etc are present.
The Edge panels light up with newer colors and also there are a host of Android 11 features like Bubbles, newer multimedia controls, etc. In terms of bloatware there are some third-party applications pre-installed and also the Samsung-specific applications throw in a lot of notifications which makes the software experience slightly jarring.
There were ads in some places but Samsung is working on a software update that would remove the ads in the future and also the OneUI 4 will soon be present on the Galaxy Z Flip 3. In terms of software updates, Samsung has always been on the forefront besides Google as the latest December patch is present on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and it is also slated to get another three years of OS updates and four years of security patches.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Cameras:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 sports a dual-camera setup at the rear which consists of the 12MP f/1.8 main camera and a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera. There is no telephoto camera present here but you can achieve 2x digital zoom using the main camera. On the front, there is a 10MP f/2.4 camera for selfies.
In terms of images from the main camera, they come out with a good dynamic range and colors look saturated. The levels of details are good and the contrast is good. Though there is some noise present but oversharpening is well under control. With the HDR turned on, you get more vibrant colors and when you zoom in, the images have good details and dynamic range.
At night, the images have a good dynamic range and the details look good. There is some amount of noise present and if you turn on the dedicated Night Mode, the highlights in shadows are restored and noise is reduced to a larger extent. But there is slight overexposure in the surroundings present.
The images from the ultrawide camera come out with good details and the dynamic range is just above average. The details look slightly softer compared to that of the main camera and there is pretty much an amount of noise in the background. The field of view is wider but this is not the best ultrawide camera for the price the smartphone costs.
At night, the images from the ultrawide camera come out with a good dynamic range and the colors look good. There is a lot of noise present but the contrast is good. The details come out slightly softer and if you turn on the dedicated Night Mode, the images have slightly better details and the highlights in shadows are restored.
The portraits from the main camera have good details and dynamic range. The edge detection works well and so is the background blur. The skin tones look natural and the biggest advantage you get is when you look at the cover display while taking the image. There is no dedicated macro camera but you can use the main camera for 2x zoom to click images closer to a subject.
The images from the selfie camera inside the display come out with good details and the dynamic range is pretty good. The skin tones look natural with no oversharpening present. The noise is also quite less and it also takes some very good portraits with perfect edge detection and there is no oversharpening in the background.
On the outside, you can use the main camera or the ultrawide camera as a selfie camera and the details come out good on both as they do not look softer. The dynamic range and contrast are good on both cameras. The skin tones look natural when taking selfies from both the main and ultrawide cameras.
The videos are taken from the main camera max out at 4K at 60fps. The videos come out with a good dynamic range and have very little noise. The colors look natural and the presence of OIS helps in good stabilization in the videos. The ultrawide camera can also record 4K videos at 60fps where dynamic range is good but some is oversharpening in the background.
In the ultrawide camera, the EIS works really well. The colors look close to natural and the dynamic range is good. The selfie videos come out good from both the main and ultra-wide cameras. The selfie videos come out good from the selfie camera which has a good dynamic range but the details look slightly softer and the presence of EIS provides stabilized videos.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Battery Life:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 has a smaller 3300mAh battery which is the biggest letdown compared to all other smartphones that have larger batteries and you get almost half a day of usage with the display set to 120Hz. Switching to standard 60Hz, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 lasts a single day with heavy usage that includes multi-tasking between applications and also playing games like BGMI for 3-4 hours.
The standard screen-on time was around 3-4 hours which is very less compared to similarly priced flagships. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 does not have a charger supplied inside the box as Samsung has started removing chargers since the launch of the Galaxy S21 series. There is only support for 15W fast charging which is very slow considering the price segment as others get faster 65W/25W fast charging capabilities.
Still, the 15W charger takes the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent in around 1 hour 30 minutes which is the slowest considering the price segment. There is also support for 10W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging which are very good additions. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has slightly better battery life and also supports 25W fast charging speeds. The battery life remains average.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Audio Quality:
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 comes with a stereo speaker setup that houses the bottom-firing speakers, as well as the top earpiece grill together, producing a stereo effect. The sound is very loud and clear. This is a big step up over the Galaxy Z Flip that has a single bottom-firing speaker. For further sound enhancement, there is Dolby Atmos present. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack present.
Verdict:
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 seems to be a good buy if you are looking for a foldable smartphone that can easily fit the pockets. The foldable form factor is what makes it different from some flagships that are priced similarly It offers a great 120Hz AMOLED display, a cover display that does most of the functionality, good design with different color options, good performance, and also better software updates.
There is no telephoto camera present which is a big miss. However, the cameras remain good but are not the best considering the price but still, they are pretty good and get the job done. The battery life is the weakest point here as you are getting a very smaller-sized battery and the support for 15W charging is just not acceptable for the price.
Even Samsung has skipped on the charger itself which may be a problem as you have to rely on third-party chargers. Though you get a Flex Mode, it is restricted to some applications only and if you look at OneUI, there are constant notifications and bloatware present. So if you are considering a foldable that has all the flagship specifications without caring for battery life, then the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is the one to go for.